Merlin Rohl has offered an unusual insight into his life at Everton, with photography becoming an important part of how he has experienced his first year in England.
The German midfielder has documented his surroundings since arriving on Merseyside, photographing teammates, supporters and everyday moments away from the usual matchday cameras.
It is an interest that goes deeper than simply carrying a camera around Finch Farm.
Rohl found something away from social media
Rohl previously explained that his interest in photography developed alongside a conscious attempt to step away from social media.
Inspired by a friend who had deleted social media, Rohl spent several years trying to change his own habits. He has spoken about becoming more aware of the people and world around him once he stopped endlessly consuming short-form content.
“I began to live my own stories instead of consuming the ones of others,” Rohl wrote earlier this year.
Photography became part of that change. Rohl said he discovered it around two years ago, providing him with another way to observe and record the world around him.
That has coincided with one of the biggest changes of his life.
Rohl left Germany to join Everton from Freiburg in 2025, moving to a different country, city and league. His photographs have subsequently become a personal record of that first year, taking in his teammates, Liverpool and Evertonians.
One of the images he selected to represent that period was taken from the team coach approaching Hill Dickinson Stadium before the game against Chelsea in March. Rohl photographed thousands of Evertonians lining Regent Road amid flags, noise and blue smoke.
“When we were approaching the stadium, and I looked out of the coach, the scene was incredible,” he explained.
Rohl has now brought those photographs together in Life with Everton, but the more interesting story is perhaps what sits behind them.
At a time when footballers live so much of their professional lives through social media, Rohl has consciously tried to look in the opposite direction.
His camera has given him his own way of recording his first year as an Everton player – by paying attention to what is actually happening around him.
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